I bought it from EBay from a seller named Down2Earth2 with this item id: 201263972887 - he was a gentleman about it and gave me a partial refund so now I need to find the spare parts I need. What I really need is one of the peg couplings that connect the two R9 cars together (one is fine) - I think the driving car uses the same connector, plus I need 2 bogies like the ones on the end of cars R1, R2, R3, R6 or R7. It is the lugs on top of the bogie where the coupling connects that are sheared away and therefore the coupling does not hold tight.

Does this make sense and do you know where I can source these?Michael

The R9 couplers are indeed the same as the power car ones - reference 10918-28. Tricky to find but I believe LittleReggie managed to get hold of some when he had the same problem. However I'm more concerned about your bogie problem - I've seen this on a set before and if you dismantle the bogies you'll find that those broken lugs are part of the coach, not part of the bogie. In your position I'd be sending the set back for a refund.

JB

Edit: Added photo to show what I mean - with the diagram handily placed in the background

It takes a little effort but it is worth it if you want a few spares. When you try to buy through Rakuten you may be told that the seller does not deliver to the UK. However, they do - just email them and they will give you a price depending on what postal service you want. This particular shop was very helpful to me and I was able to communicate in English with them as easily as any seller over here.

I believe the other type of coupling may still be available from some model shops in the UK, but it sounds like the coupling is not the problem in this case.

jivebunny wrote:The R9 couplers are indeed the same as the power car ones - reference 10918-28. Tricky to find but I believe LittleReggie managed to get hold of some when he had the same problem. However I'm more concerned about your bogie problem - I've seen this on a set before and if you dismantle the bogies you'll find that those broken lugs are part of the coach, not part of the bogie. In your position I'd be sending the set back for a refund.

Yes, that's where the problem lies. I'm not sure I can send them back now having taken them apart to take a look. The power car is fine as is the dummy car and 4 of the rest and so far my cost is $168. I just won some spares on EBay of complete cars minus the power car but I'd still like to get hold of the R9 couplers. I emailed Rakuten and so far no reply.

Don't forget that Japan are nine hours ahead of us - you are unlikely to get a reply until the middle of the night here.

While I was researching this subject I do recall reading about someone repairing broken plastic coupling pins on the underside of the car. I think it involved drilling out the locating holes and inserting new pins. I will post a link if I can find it again.

LittleReggie wrote:Don't forget that Japan are nine hours ahead of us - you are unlikely to get a reply until the middle of the night here.

While I was researching this subject I do recall reading about someone repairing broken plastic coupling pins on the underside of the car. I think it involved drilling out the locating holes and inserting new pins. I will post a link if I can find it again.

I think the model has been rerun by Kato a couple of times; I would be surprised if the models advertised as new are not new. Certainly I have been told on more than one occasion that Kato sold far more Eurostars in Japan (where N gauge modellers number in the millions) than in the UK.

If you need coupler spares and are UK-based try Gaugemaster or CJM - google is your friend.